The Timbre Of Cruelty & Kindness
by BellatrixLestrangey
Summary: James thinks about the Galra and their hand in the war. Celebrating a birthday with his mute girlfriend helps put things into perspective.


**I haven't seen many works for Acxa/James and wanted to make a little something. Didn't know what to write though so I ended up using a random word generator and got, 'mute'. Thus this fic was born.**

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James has seen it firsthand, the cruelty of the Galra military. Seen it in the demolished planets left desolate and smoldering. He has felt it when their shots rocked his craft and when their blades sliced at his back. He smelled it in the acidic plumes left in the wake of their warships and battlegrounds. In the rotting carnage they left behind. He has even tasted it. Tasted the toxins on his tongue, the blood in his mouth at a rough punch form a bulking, hulk of a soldier.

But he hadn't truly heard the cruelty of the Glara military until he heard the silence.

Her silence.

He has always thought that he'd first hear the cruelty of the Empire in the screams of a battle, in the anguished cries of fallen Balmaras, humans, Krellians, and whatever other species they had gone after. Or maybe he would hear it in the lonely hiss of the wind as it passes through a now desolate and dead Olkari.

He hadn't considered that he would hear the cruelty on such a personal level.

Acxa is a quiet woman, she has been since Veronica first introduced them.

He remembers holding out his hand and the Galra simply staring at it until Veronica tells her that shaking hands is one type of greeting. He recalls her silent and reluctant return of the gesture.

And that had been that.

At first he had tried to coax conversation out of her. But she never returned it save for a few nods. Over time, James has grown used to her silence. At one point he had come to accept that she is simply a woman of few to no words at all.

Over time he learns that he doesn't have it entirely right.

**.oOo.**

She sleeps, propped up against him.

He thinks that it might just be the soundest sleep she has gotten in a while.

He watches the rise and fall of her chest and the occasional twitch of her lips, as she mumbles something in her sleep without making any tangible sound at all.

James hopes that her dream conversation is pleasant.

Acxa shifts positions a few times before before her eyes flutter open and she peers up at him. She musters a sleepy but kind smile.

He doesn't understand how they could have hurt someone like her and felt nothing for it.

She pulls herself up right, turns to face him, and gives his head an affectionate pat with a brighter smile. The same sort she had offered him after he had handed her the plush toy he'd won on clear day.

She had hugged it to her chest with a joyful sort of half-coo, half-pur.

She still sleeps with the thing in her arms, he'd be lying if he tried to say it hadn't made him at least a little jealous at one point. He didn't know how she could snuggle that ugly thing and not him. He'd come to find that it was simply easier for her to show affection to things that had no sentiance. Eventually, though, she had set the stuffed critter aside and started cuddling him like that.

Today, she has taken to waving the hideous stuffed animal in his face until he takes it from her and sets it aside. With it out of the way, he gives her nose a small kiss and waits for the flush to appear on her cheeks as it so often does when she receives any kind of affection.

She smiles and returns the gesture before signing a thank you.

That has been an obstacle.

James barely passed his high school Spanish class. But then, he hadn't been exactly motivated to learn a second language. Learning sign language had been somehow different, Galra sign language at that. He found that there were some similarities between human signing and Galra signing, but they were still vastly different. There are some signs that he physically cannot produce with human anatomy. But that is fine, he just needs to know what she is signing to him.

Acxa is cheerful, her eyes are so bright, accented by a smile that lights her entire face. It is a stark contrast to the mournful Galra who'd first come to them. She tugs out of his hold and pulls him into standing. The only warning he gets, before being tugged along, is a gesture to follow. She doesn't exactly give him time to register the motion nor to recall the meaning of that sign, but he puts two and two together as she leads him down the hall.

It is her birthday, he recalls, and she seems to be as enthusiastic as he was for Christmas morning when he was eight. He thinks that this might be the first time she has even a chance at a kind and warm birthday. It will be the first, he realizes, in three years that she isn't spending alone.

Much of the Atlas' inhabitants are gathered in the cafeteria for her birthday breakfast. She looks adorably perplexed at the display. He wonders if the Glara has ever seen balloons and streamers before. He guesses that she hasn't because she hits one of the balloons back and forth, with her head slightly tilted.

He knows that she has never interacted with a balloon before when one of her little claws punctures the balloon and she jolts back.

For a moment, she looks as though she has committed some horrible sin. With a chuckle, Keith speaks up first, "Yeah, that happens a lot, they are easy to pop. Balloons and Galra claws don't mix very well."

Acxa nods but she still looks terribly baffled. 'Why are they wearing cones?' She signs.

"They're called party hats." James replies.

"You get one too." Veronica proclaimed as she slips one over Acxa's right horn.

'But, why?' She asks.

James doesn't have an answer for her so he shrugs and says, "it's just an Earth tradition." He leads her to her seat.

"I made some confetti pancakes for you." Hunk states. "My mom always made them for me on my birthday. She even let me have strawberries and whip cream." He sets the whip cream before her and a platter of fruits for her to choose from.

"Try it with bananas." James suggests. "I think that bananas and pancakes go well together."

She takes his word for it, and seems delighted by his suggestion. She offers him a bite and, after adding an absurd amount of whip cream for just a small piece, he eats it. He rubs her shoulders as she finishes her meal.

He considers for a moment, how eating had been something he used to take for granted. When they had first found her, Acxa struggled to do even that. For a time she could only eat liquid foods and things that melted in her mouth.

He gives a slight shudder, she had been in poor condition when they'd found her. Metnally and physically. He had begun to fear that her psyche had been damaged beyond repair. Looking at her now, he wouldn't have been able to guess that she'd suffered any sort of trauma.

After she finishes her breakfast, Lance showers her with a glimmering cloud of glitter and confetti. She picks up one of the metallic flakes and inspects it for a moment before looking to James for an explanation.

She has so many questions and he doesn't know how to answer the why's. He just knows that confetti is a party must, and so he tosses it every now and again. He pulls out his phone. "Let's just say people like throwing things at other people." He replies after skimming through a lengthy wiki article about medieval Italian parade rituals.

Again Acxa cocks her head, but she accepts the answer with a shrug. He is certain that she will research it herself later on. He watches her push the confetti around with her finger. He isn't sure who, but someone turns the radio on.

By the time the party reaches its height, Acxa seems to have settled into things. It almost seemed as though she has had a human style birthday celebration before. He has his arm around her waist as she socalizes, doing her best to uphold a few conversations at once. He struggles to pick up on the conversation with Veronica and Keith-who have developed such talents for Galra sign language that it is hard to keep up with the speed. He can tell that it brings his girlfriend a sense of reassurance.

She has normalcy back in her life.

A sort of normalcy anyways.

The kind that she expressed that she didn't think she would ever have again after they had cut her tongue.

Dressed in what must be custom-fit pajamas-ones that she has just uncovered from a box wrapped with shiny, balloon-print wrapping paper-she crawls onto her bed. He knows that, though she seemed to have enjoyed herself, she is tired and has reached her threshold of social interaction for the week.

Even still, she pats a spot on the bed next to her and James comes to join her.

He hugs the woman and kisses her ear. She picks up one of the other presents she has received, an ornate picture frame. She holds up her hands and begins her soundless speech. This time he doesn't know what she is trying to say.

"You had a good time?" He asks.

She shakes her head and repeats her motions.

"You hated it and never want to have another birthday party again."

This time after shaking her head, she points at the picture frame.

"You want to exchange it for a better gift, but you don't want to hurt Kinkade's feelings?" He guesses.

Acxa sighs and gently puts her palm to her forehead. She tries once more.

"That is your favorite gift and you want me to tell Kinkade that he is your new best friend?"

She is growing frustrated, but he can detect a hint of amusement at his horrid translations. She sighs again, this time with words. She is still rather hard to understand, especially her 'S' words.

"You want me to send you a picture of us?" He asks.

She nods, 'so I can frame it', she adds in sign.

"I will." He replies.

She nods again and lays herself down, rubbing her cheek into the pillow. He pulls the blanket over her.

It has been a long time since he has heard her speak, he had been beginning to forget how she sounds. Through rather extensive surgery and therapy has recovered her vocal ability, to some extent anyhow. But her speech is often garbled and hard to make out. Her ability to properly shape the words is lost to her. It sounds as though she still has her tongue, but she is trying to speak with it pressed to the bottom of her mouth.

He remembers her stating that she doesn't like the sound of her voice anymore, that the quality of her speech makes her seem illiterate. So she sticks to her signing unless someone really struggles to interpret it. Even then, he has seen her fetch something to write or type on.

Acxa only every vocally communicates with he, Keith, and Veronica these days.

He wishes that she would speak more, he still finds her voice to be soothing. But he doesn't push her.

He lays down in front of her and cups a hand to her cheek. She mimics the motion, her feeling of her claws sending a pleasant tingle down his spine. She gives him a sleepy smile. Looking into those eyes, he wonders, again, how they can be so cruel.

How they could go out of their way to try to take the lively glimmer out of her eyes.

Acxa is a kind woman and, despite her rough exterior, one of the gentlest souls he has come upon.

It is hard to fathom that anyone would want to abuse her in such a way.

He has seen, felt smelled, and tasted the cruelty of the Galra Empire. Most of all, James has heard the cruelty of the Galra Empire. And it comes in the form of silence.

But he has also seen the kindness of the Galra in those kind smiles, in the shelters she and the blade had helped construct for those who'd lost theirs to the war. He has felt it in those small gestures; the way she nuzzles closer, the way she holds him-it is as tender and loving as any human he has known. He has smelled the kindness of the Galra in the strange flowers she gives him and has tasted in when she offered him a traditional dish or two. He had been able to tell that she had worked hard on them.

Most of all, he has heard it.

Heard a unique Galra brand of affection and care.

He has heard it in her, sheepish and broken speech.


End file.
